Sec. of State candidate Schoeller attacks "puppy mill" language

The Republican nominee for Secretary of State is conducting a so-called “Farm Values Tour” across Missouri this week.

At a meeting of the Missouri Soybean Association, Schoeller criticized departing Secretary of State Robin Carnahan for using the phrase “puppy mill” in the ballot initiative narrowly passed by voters in 2010. Schoeller said his Democratic opponent Jason Kander would follow Carnahan’s lead if elected.

Schoeller said, “I would do everything I can to be fair and treat them as they would expect to be treated, and not have to worry about a Secretary of State who sides with an outside interest group, like the national Humane Society of the United States.”

A state law last year removed the phrase “puppy mill” and did away with the cap of 50 dogs per breeder. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Kander says he would be a non-partisan Secretary of State, while Schoeller would, quote, “stick up only for his friends.”